Both of my boys are aspiring musicians. My oldest (19) plays, guitar, bass, writes and sings and my youngest (14) plays drums. Last week they volunteered to play a couple of songs at a church Talent Show. It seemed like a lot of work to teardown, haul, setup, teardown and haul back all the gear for 2 songs, but they gladly did it. They were really the only amplified act there. After the show, a guy who is opening a bagel shop in town approached them and asked if they wanted to open the parking lot during their grand opening. We love parking lots, so the answer was "sure thing". Junior wants "bagels for life" as payment. I love drummers.
During a visit to the shop the next day, the kids were approached by the owner of a billiards hall/sports bar/restaurant directly across the street from the bagel shop who asks them if they'd like to be the Saturday night house band and play 2-3 hours of mostly classic rock, a bit of modern-era rock and some of their originals. He's never seen them play, but got word of mouth from the bagel shop owner and he watched some YouTube videos of them messing around upstairs.
This is where I come in...my youngest doesn't listen to much classic stuff (he's into new-ish Metal) and my oldest is into some of it, but mostly the grunge-era stuff. They asked my to compile a list of any classic rock tunes that I think would go over well and they can learn in a week's time. This has been fun - they've brought in 2 friends to play guitar and bass and both of them are Metalheads and don't play (or care for) classic rock.
Teaching these kids the classics has been a hoot, and I've sold them on the idea that getting people up and moving (and buying drinks) is what the bar owner would love to see. They've been practicing for 3 days now, and it's very cool to watch them get into the older rock stuff like LaGrange, N.I.B., The Ocean, Bang a Gong, Brain Damage/Eclipse, Up Around the Bend, Hocus Pocus, American Band, etc. I think most of them were expecting to be bored to death playing this stuff, but they're so into it now. I can't wait for the first gig next weekend.
I wish Jon Lord were alive...and in North Carolina...and looking to play bagel shop parking lot and bar gigs. We all agree that Rat Bat Blue would be killer to play, but no one can pull off the keys.
If any of you guys have any "must play" suggestions, please post 'em - so far, I've compiled a list of about 100 songs, and the kids are trying to learn 5 per day. I'd love to see what some of you guys suggest.
Thanks,
Steve
